Passengers have found themselves stranded at London airports on Saturday (May 27) as a major IT-system failure hit British Airways at the start of a long holiday weekend.
The airline has cancelled all flights out of Heathrow and Gatwick airport that depart before 6pm GMT.
The outage is “causing very severe disruption to our flight operations worldwide,” the company said in a statement, advising passengers to avoid the London airports entirely. “Please do not come to the airports.”
Angry travelers took to social media to post photos of the chaos at Heathrow and plead with British Airways for more information, which was sparse.
Both Lufthansa and Air France were hit with similar outages last month, Reuters reported.
Though it may not help stranded travelers jet off to their planned vacations, passengers affected by unexpected delays and cancellations in the European Union have a right to recompense. As established by a 2004 European Commission regulation, passengers are entitled to compensation for delays exceeding two hours, depending on flight distance. Compensation from the airlines can range from €250 to €600, regardless of how much you paid for your initial ticket.
If you’re stranded and want more information, here’s a handy guide with the step-by-step process for how to get the payment you’re legally entitled to.